The present invention relates generally to vehicle spring suspensions and more particularly to a U-bolt for a leaf spring suspension device.
It is the usual practice to isolate the rear axle of a vehicle from the frame of the vehicle by supporting the axle in a multi-leaf type spring which is suspended between a forward bearing bracket and a rearward spring shackle whereby most imperfections in the road surface can be absorbed by the wheel and the spring construction and not be transmitted to the vehicle passenger compartment through the frame. The multi-leaf type of spring is characterized by a plurality of stacked leaves, usually four or five in number, which decrease in length away from the base or mounting leaf in the form of a truncated triangular configuration. The axle suspension connects to the thickest or highest part of the multi-leaf spring to achieve maximum support.
In my U.S. application Ser. No. 09/083,752, filed May 22, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,831, issued Nov. 30, 1999, I disclose a stabilizer for a leaf spring suspension device. U-bolts are used to secure the stabilizing members to the preexisting vehicle multi-leaf spring member suspension device. Keepers are used on such leaf spring suspension devices to hold the leaves of the multi-leaf spring member. Such U-bolts must not interfere with the keepers holding the multi-leaves together.
There is thus a need for a U-bolt which can be used to hold a stabilizing spring to the preexisting multi-leaf spring member suspension system of a vehicle without interfering with the keepers retaining the multi-leaves of the multi-leaf spring suspension together.